Breaking decades of precedent on non-civilian secretaries.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis was confirmed by the Senate to be the next defense secretary, just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as president. Both house of Congress passed a bill that would grant Mattis a waiver from a 1947 law, later amended in 2008, that prohibits an individual who is less than eight years removed from military service to serve in the traditionally civilian post. During his confirmation hearing, Mattis broke with Trump on a few issues—notably his support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which Trump repeatedly disparaged on the campaign trail.
